- Born
- Died
- Birth nameBarton Lee Hazlewood
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- This singer, songwriter and producer who wrote millionsellers for Nancy Sinatra 'These boots are made for walkin' and for Dean Martin 'Houston' and 'Shades', and for Frank sinatra 'This town' was the son of an oilman. Drafted during the Korean war, he became a country DJ in¨Phoenix in 1953. He began experimenting with session guitarist Al Casey by putting echo on country songs. His first succes was the song 'The fool' written and produced by him, under the name of his first wife 'Naomi Ford' (in fact her name was Naomi Shackleford). This composition was recorded by Sanford Clark and had the backing by Al Casey. It became a top 10 hit in the USA in 1956. His electronic gimmickry influenced an other well-known producer : Phil Spector. In 1957 Lee Hazlewood co-founded Jamie Records in Philadelphia with Lester Sill and Dick Clark, using Clark's TV-show to sell the hits of guitarplayer Duane Eddy. In 1961 and 1962, after founding with Lester Sill the Gregmark Company, he had hits with the Paris Sisters - a trio from San Francisco-. He threatened to quit the business when the United States were swamped by 'British Invasion'. Instead, at request of Jimmy Bowen, he produced hits by film-star offspring Dino, Desi and Billy on the Frank Sinatra-label 'Reprise' in 1965. He reached the top in 1966 with his composition 'These boots are made for walkin', a number 1 hit for Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy Sinatra. He made with her several hits as 'Jackson', 'Summerwine' or 'Lady Bird'. In the seventies he moved to Sweden where he made several records and worked for television together with the Swedish director Torbjörn Axelmann. The two made also a show for the Swedish television and won 'The Golden Rose of Montreux' (an award for the best televisionprogram). In 1993, the famous British pop group Tindersticks issued a 45 rpm 7'' single 'A marriage made in heaven' based on Hazlewood's composition 'Sand'. It was considered as a tribute to Lee Hazlewood whose portrait has been placed on the cover of that single. Also in 1993 - after an interval of 13 years - Lee hazlewood could be heard on the Finnsh album 'Gypsies and Indians'together with the Finnish female singer Anna Hanski. In 1995 he did a tour with Nancy sinatra in the States, canada and Scandinavia. In 1999 he issued - for the first time in 20 years- a new solo album titled 'Farmisht, flatulence, origami, ARF!!! and me...'. It was a new collaboration with Al casey. Surprisingly Lee Hazlewood gave in 1999 also his first solo performances since 1974 in London (Royal Festival Hall) and in Stockholm where he was backed by his life-time friend Al Casey and his combo.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- SpousesJeane Kelley(November 2006 - August 4, 2007) (his death)Tracy Stewart(1983 - 1992) (divorced, 1 child)Naomi Shackleford(1953 - 1961) (divorced, 2 children)
- Hazlewood is perhaps best known for having written and produced the 1966 Nancy Sinatra U.S./UK No. 1 hit, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" and "Summer Wine".
- Of his cult status, Hazlewood remarked, "Thank God for kids that love obscure things! I never thought anyone would pay attention to those records, and it's a good feeling. It makes me feel like I really did get to do what I wanted to do.".
- Survived by his wife, Jeane, and his children: Samantha, Debbie, and Mark.
- In the 1970s Hazlewood moved to Stockholm, Sweden, where he wrote and produced the one-hour television show Cowboy in Sweden together with friend and Director Torbjörn Axelman, which also later emerged as an album.
- Following discharge from the military, Hazlewood worked as a disc jockey in Phoenix while honing his song writing skills.
- There's nothing worse, I guess, than being black in an all-white church or being southern and being a liberal.
- So I became a producer because I knew one of the reasons was they didn't do them the way I thought was right.
- some of us stay and some of us go sooner or later we all make the little flowers grow.
- I used to not stutter any. Oh, I did when I was a kid, I stuttered, I had a bad stutter until I was probably between the second and third grade and a guy got rid of it for me.
- I tell ya, I could have got some more jobs if I'd tried, but I went to Sweden instead.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content